The Ministry of Labour has announced the completion of a 12-month health and safety inspection of patterns of violations in mines across the country to protect miners.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor today released the findings of its Mine Safety and Health Administration investigation. Pattern of violations Screening to identify chronic violators and mine operators who disregard the health and safety of their miners.

This result is the first POV Screening It is set by MSHA on a calendar year basis. POV Review Process We investigate all mines in the United States and identify those with significant and significant violations and other health and safety compliance issues. Health and safety violations are violations that have the potential to have a significant and significant impact on the cause and consequences of a safety or health hazard.

under Mining ActMSHA has the authority to identify mines that exhibit a pattern of S&S violations and, if necessary, issue a POV Notice to the mine operator, one of the agency’s most severe enforcement actions. If a mine receives a POV Notice and further commits an S&S violation, MSHA has the authority to withdraw miners from the affected area, except for those necessary to correct the violations.

“A central tenet of any good job is a safe and healthy workplace,” said Under Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to use the full range of authorities granted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration by Congress to protect the health and safety of the nation’s mineworkers.”

MSHA will conduct POV screening of mines over a 12-month enforcement period ending April 30, 2024. Mine No. 39 in McDowell County, West Virginia, met the original POV criteria. The mine, operated by Twin State Mining Inc., met the criteria for an initial POV review, but MSHA considered mitigating circumstances. As a result of this review, MSHA may choose to issue a POV notice, postpone issuance, or not issue a notice. After review, MSHA determined that it was not necessary to issue a POV notice.

The agency also announced that POV notices issued for the following mines remain in effect:

• Published on July 6, 2023 Atalco Gramercy LLCThe company, operator of Gramercy Operations in Gramercy, Louisiana, began investigating the matter after MSHA identified a pattern of S&S violations related to spills and leaks of corrosive materials.
• Published on December 1, 2022 Morton Salt Co., Ltd.The company, operator of the Weeks Island Mine and Smelter in New Iberia, Louisiana, implemented the action after MSHA identified a pattern of S&S violations related to roof and rib hazards.

If an operator subject to a POV commits an S&S violation, they are required to withdraw miners from the affected area until MSHA determines the violations have been cured. If MSHA does not issue a withdrawal order within 90 days after issuance of the POV notice, or if MSHA’s inspection of the entire mine does not find any S&S violations, the POV notice will be terminated.

MSHA offers two online calculators to help mine operators monitor compliance. Violation Pattern CalculatorThis enables mine operators to monitor performance against POV screening criteria and alerts mine operators that corrective action is required. An important and practical calculatorThis allows the mine operator to monitor S&S violations. It is the mine operator’s responsibility to track violation and injury history and determine if action needs to be taken to avoid meeting POV screening criteria.

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